corbel

[ kawr-buh l ]

/ ˈkɔr bəl /

Architecture

noun

any bracket, especially one of brick or stone, usually of slight extent.

a short horizontal timber supporting a girder.

verb (used with object), cor·beled, cor·bel·ing or (especially British) cor·belled, cor·bel·ling.

to set (bricks, stones, etc.) so as to form a corbel or corbels (usually followed by out).

to support by means of a corbel or corbels.

Nearby words

Origin of corbel

1375–1425; late Middle English < Middle French < Medieval Latin corvellus, equivalent to Latin corv(us) raven¹ + -ellus diminutive suffix

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for corbel

Parapets were at the same time added above the Norman corbel tables.
The Cathedral Church of Peterborough|W.D. Sweeting
The parapet has a corbel course similar to that on the two eastern bays of the presbytery aisle.
Bell's Cathedrals: Chichester (1901)|Hubert C. Corlette
Corbel—a projecting stone to carry a weight, usually carved.
Scottish Cathedrals and Abbeys|Dugald Butler and Herbert Story
We cross rivulets formerly spanned by bridges, of which bricks and a corbel vault are still visible.
The Ancient Cities of the New World|Dsir Charnay

Pointed oval: St. Bartholomew standing on a corbel, in the right hand a knife, in the left hand a long cross.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Priory Church of St. Bartholomew-the-Great, Smithfield|George Worley

British Dictionary definitions for corbel

corbel

/ (ˈkɔːbəl) architect /

noun

Also called: truss a bracket, usually of stone or brick

verb -bels, -belling or -belled or US -bels, -beling or -beled

(tr) to lay (a stone or brick) so that it forms a corbel

Word Origin for corbel

C15: from Old French, literally: a little raven, from Medieval Latin corvellus, from Latin corvus raven

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for corbel

corbel

mid-14c., from Old French corbel, diminutive of corb "raven," from Latin corvus (see raven); so called from its beaked shape.